A Look Back, Oct. 15

50 Years Ago

■Planning Board members from Chesterfield, Williamsburg and Westhampton expressed fears last night that the proposed Skyview subdivision, straddling the three towns, could become a major financial burden to the three towns if private wells and septic systems prove inadequate in the wet and sloping tract.

■Special Justice Alvertus J. Morse removed himself from a case today because the victim of an alleged break and entry on Oct. 13 was his brother. Two men were charged with larceny of meat, pickles, salad dressing and crackers from the Outlook Farm on Route 66 in Westhampton. The farm is owned by David Morse.

25 Years Ago

■A fund that bankrolls programs benefiting women and girls in western Massachusetts crossed a campaign’s halfway point this week, in small and outsized fashion. The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts logged both a stunning, five-year pledge of $500,000 from an anonymous donor and a promise, from another supporter, to give $15 a month.

■Pizza, burritos and sushi may be lunch fare for Northampton High School seniors this year, because the School Committee Thursday night tentatively granted them permission to leave school during lunch. With the school undergoing a $26.3 million expansion and renovation, hot lunches are not being served.

10 Years Ago

■The Valley Swim School has signed a deal with the city’s Recreation Department to lease a portion of the pool at JFK Middle School three days a week, where it will continue its swimming lessons for some 300 children and water aerobics for cancer patients. The move means Valley Swim will not have to close Friday when its lease expires at the indoor pool on the former Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech campus.

■Sparked by the removal of a half-dozen Main Street benches downtown and delayed by what some viewed as inappropriate language, a “vibrant sidewalks” resolution will get an airing Tuesday. The resolution was initially presented in May 2013 after several benches downtown were removed amid complaints about loitering.